Saab's Chinese rescue: Who are Hawtai Motor Group?

Hawtai Motor Group has acquired a 30pc stake in Saab after a €150m (£135m)
deal, making it the second Chinese company to invest in a famous Swedish
carmaker after Geely’s deal with Volvo. However, while Geely and its
charismatic leader Li Shufu have been at the forefront of China’s global
automotive expansion, very little is known of Hawtai.

According to Victor Muller, the chief executive of Saab’s parent company Spyker, Hawtai’s “clean diesel engine technologies, production capacity, and its ambitious development programs” make it “the right partner” for Saab.

Beyond that, what we know about the privately owned company is limited. Hawtai was founded in 2000 and is based in Beijing, but with production facilities in Ordos, Inner Mongolia and Rongcheng, Shandong Province.

It has become one of the leading SUV and luxury sedan makers in China, with cars including the Boliger, the Santa Fe C9, and the B11.

Hawtai management now have ambitious plans for expansion. At present, every year the company produces 350,000 vehicles, 300,000 clean diesel engines and 450,000 automatic transmissions. However, by 2015 it wants to more than treble this output.

Previously, the company has acquired technology from Hyundai in South Korea, but the Saab deals is by far its most high-profile move outside China.